Josh O’Connor plays a sensitive stripper on ‘SNL’ and Lily Allen’s ‘Madeline’ has a surprise

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Hosts on “Saturday Night Live” usually stand out for either enhancing the sketches they appear in with their personality and comedic skills, or for unfortunately demonstrating they aren’t well-suited for live, improvisational comedy.

Josh O’Connor, the British actor, recently hosted “Saturday Night Live” for the first time, but his appearance didn’t really stand out.

Josh O’Connor, famous for his role as Prince Charles in “The Crown” and recent appearances in “Challengers” and the new Netflix film “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” was willing to participate, but for much of the show, he didn’t have many chances to do much beyond briefly appearing in sketches as himself, rather than a character.

He appeared in several comedic roles, including a reimagined Tin Man in a “Wizard of Oz” sketch where the male characters express a different desire than in the original story. He also played a college classmate to a 12-year-old prodigy (Bowen Yang), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in a Christmas-themed sketch modeled after Variety’s “Actors on Actors,” and a character at an uncomfortable brunch.

He only took the lead in a handful of sketches – like a parody of “The Dating Game” with Ashley Padilla playing a lively 84-year-old, a hospital scene where he was a clumsy intern, and a sketch where he and Ben Sherman were surprisingly sensitive male strippers at a bachelorette party. However, these weren’t particularly stand-out performances. The sketches only really came to life when he shared a kiss with his co-stars, Yang and Sherman, at the end.

The episode really highlighted Yang, who played multiple roles including the Wizard, the quick-witted Doctor Please in a hospital sketch, and a 12-year-old college student. Musical guest Lily Allen also stood out with dramatic performances of her new songs, “Sleepwalking” and “Madeline,” which are about her breakup with David Harbour. During “Madeline,” actress Dakota Johnson unexpectedly appeared on stage as the song’s namesake, joining Allen at the end. Another of Allen’s songs, “West End Girl,” inspired an entire sketch where the cast sang about their emotions to the song’s melody, with Allen making a cameo as their waitress.

It’s unclear whether the show’s material didn’t suit O’Connor, or if he simply wasn’t a good match for “SNL.” Either way, the most memorable parts of the episode weren’t really about him.

Besides the live sketches, this episode of “Saturday Night Live” also featured a Christmas-themed animated short featuring the characters Brad and his Dad.

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Saturday Night Live opened with another impression of Donald Trump, expertly performed by James Austin Johnson. He portrayed Trump rambling to reporters on Air Force One, a performance White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt (played by Ashley Padilla) explained away as exhaustion. Trump joked about mixing Ambien and Adderall, then made an awkward comment about Leavitt’s lips and dismissed concerns about affordability, claiming the economy is thriving “from the billionaires all the way down to the poor millionaires.” The sketch continued with Trump responding to reports of Venezuelan ships with a pirate impression (“We’re doing pirate now, argh”), and a promise to expand attacks to the air, culminating in a visual gag of Santa Claus and his reindeer being shot down on radar.

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In his speech, O’Connor addressed two common misconceptions about him. First, he’s known as a “soft boy” – someone who enjoys traditionally feminine hobbies like embroidery, scrapbooking, and gardening, similar to what many 65-year-old women do. Second, people often point out his resemblance to the character Linguini from the Pixar movie “Ratatouille.” He clarified that while he never intended to pursue playing Linguini in a live-action remake, he’s very eager to take on the role. He jokingly stated he’d “kill” to play the character.

Best sketch of the night: You ate how many nuggets this year?

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Spotify’s ‘Wrapped’ feature, which shares your yearly listening habits, is already a popular topic for jokes and memes, but ‘Saturday Night Live’ still managed to find some humor in it. Uber Eats also offers a year-in-review, and it’s probably best to keep that from your partner – especially if it reveals how much fast food you order or if you’re among the top nugget consumers! The fake commercial cleverly plays on the embarrassment we feel about our guilty food pleasures and the surprisingly detailed data Uber Eats collects about those habits, data most of us probably don’t want revealed.

Also good: These kind male strippers give the best empathy hugs

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A bachelorette party at a secluded cabin gets a surprise visit from two male strippers, Augie and Remington. They’re surprisingly polite, asking for permission before performing and even removing layers of clothing – cardigans over cardigans! Their performance includes an emo rendition of “Pony” and a reveal of a Zohran tattoo. While giving lap dances, one of the strippers unexpectedly becomes overwhelmed and starts to cry, claiming he was thinking about the Supreme Court. The sketch wasn’t a groundbreaking idea, but the well-developed characters and the bachelorette’s obvious attraction to the performers kept it entertaining and prevented it from dragging on.

‘Weekend Update’ winner: Superheroes, Santa and your boss all want you to behave

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Jane Wickline performed a clever and unexpectedly edgy original song about a major global threat – not artificial intelligence, but the now-adult stars of “Stranger Things.” Marcello Hernández, however, really had the audience roaring with laughter as he described Christmas traditions in his Cuban family, particularly the awkwardness of new boyfriends trying to impress relatives. His routine meandered a bit, touching on “Home Alone” and unwanted advice from uncles, but the highlight was his spot-on impressions of his father offering encouragement in various voices, including Santa Claus, Spider-Man, and even Lorne Michaels.

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2025-12-14 11:31